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Carmen's Crew Beats Golden Eagles to Win The Basketball Tournament 2019 Title
August 7, 2019
An 8-0 game-ending run catapulted Carmen's Crew to a 66-60 victory over the Golden Eagles to win $2 million and The Basketball Tournament championship on Tuesday in Chicago.
David Lighty led Carmen's Crew with 17 points and seven rebounds, and William Buford added 14 points. Jeff Gibbs and Jon Diebler each had 11.
Four Golden Eagles scored in double digits led by Elgin Cook's 17. Mo Acker had 13, Jamil Wilson contributed 11 and Dwight Buycks pitched in 10.
Carmen's Crew, a team largely consisting of Ohio State men's basketball alums, dominated down the stretch to meet the Elam Ending score of 66.
Tied at 60, ex-OSU point guard Aaron Craft fired a quick bounce pass to LaQuinton Ross for two:
On the next possession, Diebler stole the ball and laid in a bucket despite playing with a dislocated finger suffered in the second quarter:
The Golden Eagles, who mainly rostered former Marquette men's hoops players, couldn't get a bucket on the other end. Buford then grabbed a defensive rebound, got fouled and knocked down two free throws for the victory.
The championship battle was a back-and-forth affair all night. The first half featured six lead changes and one tie, and neither team pulled away in the second half until Carmen's Crew's run.
Initially, the OSU alums looked like they would pull away quickly after taking a 16-8 edge into the second quarter. This Diebler triple helped the cause:
However, the Golden Eagles stormed back with a 23-11 second-quarter run. During that span, Acker gave his team its first lead:
Marquette closed the second quarter shooting 10-of-16 from the field (3-of-3 from the three-point line).
In the third quarter, Acker stayed hot, knocking down consecutive triples to give his team a 48-47 edge:
Neither team led by more than one possession until the game's closing moments.
After the game, Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley congratulated his Buckeyes:
Conley, a 12-year NBA veteran, co-led the 2006-07 OSU team to the NCAA title game alongside center Greg Oden.
Current OSU men's hoops coach Chris Holtmann also gave his congrats:
Both teams played an excellent final and clearly looked like the top two teams throughout the tournament.
The Eagles survived a second-round scare against a team of Colorado basketball alums after an 83-81 win but beat its other four opponents by an average of 12.0 points.
Carmen's Crew beat each of its first four opponents by eight or more points before knocking off four-time defending champion Overseas Elite 71-66 to earn a finals berth. None of their six victories were by fewer than five points.
And now the team is $2 million richer. Eight Carmen's Crew members will receive $200,000, including general manager Scoonie Penn, Diebler and Buford.